Jewish soldiers get Hebrew Bibles
Chaplains on overseas and domestic bases are distributing a free copy of the Jewish Publication Society’s military edition of the Tanakh, a widely read English translation of the Hebrew Bible.
The distribution comes just in time for the Jewish High Holy Days, which begin with Rosh Hashana at sunset tonight.
The society, in partnership with the Jewish Welfare Board Chaplains Council, produced 10,000 copies of the Bible.
The society said the new military Tanakh, funded by the Everett Foundation, the society and individual donors, contains prayers and blessings, including prayers recited in a time of danger, during illness and for a safe journey on the road, and the traditional blessing over meals.
Unlike the one shown at left, the military edition features a cover with the official camouflage patterns from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. The society’s news release said the Bibles are compact enough to fit into a military uniform pocket.
“JPS has a long tradition of making the Hebrew Bible accessible to all,” Carol Hupping, the society’s chief operating officer and publishing director.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Faithful Five: Weekend events
Here’s my “faithful five” — five events going on in the faith community this weekend, Sept. 6-7. If what you read below intrigues you, go check it out for yourself: 1. All I ever needed to know about life I learned at a pancake breakfast. That’s right, it’s time again for South Lee United Methodist Church’s annual Pancake Breakfast. Rise early and get there when they open at 7 a.m. Saturday for pancakes, plus a silent auction. Cost is $4.50 for adults and $2.50 for children. South Lee is at 601 SW 36. Call 631-4564 for more information.
2. Rock the boat.Need a lift and a laugh? Check out “Arkeology,” the premiere children’s musical 
set for 6 p.m. Sunday at Council Road Baptist Church, 2900 N Council Road in Bethany. Youths at the church were commissioned to perform the musical for the first time by a Nashville-Tenn. publishing company. The story is told from the perspective of the animals (cute kids in even cuter costumes). Call 789-3175 for more information.
3. Smiling rabbi.That would be Rabbi Ovadia Goldman on Sunday at the grand opening of the new Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning. About 300 people are expected for event at at 3000 W Hefner Road. Activities begin at 4 p.m.
(PhotoPaul B. Southerland/The Oklahoman: Nechoma Goldman, Rabbi Ovadia Goldman and Levi Stein and Shalom Klein stand outside the new Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning.)
4. New Remedy (Drive). Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmond plans to rock out on Sunday with a free community picnic and local bands at 4 p.m. A free concert featuring the Christian rock band Remedy Drive is set for 7 p.m. inside the church at 308 NW 164. For more information, call 348-3292.
5. Help for the heart.The Rev. Hance Dilbeck at Quail Springs Baptist Church will debut his new sermon series on Sunday that hints at a really intriguing premise: “Prayers From the Pit: Seeking God with a Broken Heart.” Dilbeck will preach at the church’s 8:15, 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sunday services at 14613 N May. The church now offers Wednesday and Sunday classes that provide people with tools to help heal their heart, whether they need aid to get out of debt, rekindle the romance in marriage, help through a divorce. For more information, call the church at 755-9240.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Preparing for Jewish New Year
I knew that Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown Sept. 30 this year.
What I did not know is that the 30 days before the new year are a special time of preparation for the Jewish faith community.
This time period preceding the High Holidays is called Elul. It began on Monday.
For some interesting reading on Elul, check out Jewish musician Craig Taubman’s site Jewels of Elul. It features various writers who contribute a meditation for every day of Elul.
Then there’s an article by Interfaithfamily.com’s Marinell James. Th freelance writer from San Francisco has chosen an intriguing title: “Elul and Spiritual Do-overs.”
For those who would simply like to know more about Elul, go online to the Orthodox Union’s page on the subject: “Elul: A Time to Reflect.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
(pictured abov right: Members of the Jewish faith community often eat apples dipped in honey during Rosh Hashana to symbolize their desire for a sweet new year.)
Rabbi sees divine design
Weighing in on every aspect of the construction of the new Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning, Rabbi Ovadia Goldman saw many layers of an unfolding plan.
“One of the things I always learned in my Jewish mysticism classes is that there is nothing in the world that was created without a blueprint,” Goldman (shown at left with his wife, Nechoma) said this week.
“I learned that it’s virtually impossible to create something that is beautiful, comfortable and sensible without some forethought.”
So the rabbi said seeing the community center take shape — from the initial blueprints to the completed building — reminded him once again that this world has a divine Creator who designed it with loving hands.
“To me I see a whole different perspective. When I look at the world, this is something that had to have forethought. It could not have happened by chance.”
Goldman said these thoughts so overwhelmed him that he wanted to leave a few wires hanging from the ceiling in his office and wanted to be able to look up and see an exposed beam or two — just to remind him again of God’s divine design.
Alas, the rabbi said his idea was nixed by others involved with the community center project.
But he will never forget the nugget about God’s world that he gleaned as he worked on the project.
“You need to go back to the blueprint — the Torah — to see the root and source and purpose and vision of it — to understand its gifts and details.”
The new center — with all the wires and beams in proper place – will be unveiled to the community at 4 p.m. Sept. 7. at 3000 W Hefner Road in The Village.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Celebration for Israel continues on
PHOTO FROM SHALOMTV.COM/Actress Valerie Harper, best known for her starring role on TV’s “Rhoda, ” talks with a Shalom TV correspondent at Sunday’s Salute to Israel Parade on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The Jewish communities in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas gathered together in May to celebrate the 60th birthday of the modern state of Israel, but the festivities have continued elsewhere.
Due to the wonders of technology, Internet surfers can see Shalom TV’s exclusive coverage of this year’s Salute to Israel Parade up New York’s Fifth Avenue marking the the 60th anniversary.
A Shalom TV news release said the presentation includes a panoramic view of the procession: Twenty marching bands, 42 floats and 100,000 marchers. Stage, screen and television stars like Valerie Harper, Ron Rifkin and Richard Kind also are featured as part of the gala presentation.
An estimated 1 million spectators line Fifth Avenue to see the parade on Sunday, Shalom TV reported.
Shalom TV, America’s Jewish cable television network, is available as a free Video On Demand service coast-to-coast on both Comcast and Time Warner Cable and is also carried elsewhere.
Go online to Shalom TV for more information about the channel and to view video highlights of the recent parade.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Sweet melodies at local temple
The old adage “you learn something new everyday” couldn’t have been more appropriate as I set out to work on a short story about the new cantor-in-residence at Temple B’nai Israel in Oklahoma City.
The new cantor, Adelle Nicholson, visited the temple for a first round of Shabbat services, workshops and choir rehearsals last weekend.
PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS/Cantor-in-residence Adelle Nicholson
In talking to Rabbi Barry Cohen about the latest addition to the temple (featured on the cover of The Oklahoman’s July 26 Religion Section), I learned that a cantor is one of two religious leaders at most Jewish synagogues and temples.
Many people outside the Jewish faith community are probably more familar with rabbis as Jewish faith leaders, but may not know that a cantor also plays an integral role as a Jewish religious leader.
Cohen said cantors have always been a vital part of the life and well-being of the typical synagogue.
Cantors are musicians who help enhance the temple prayer service and they lead various activities such as workshops and perform some pastoral duties.
The hope is that I can get Nicholson to come to the OPUBCO video studio for a song or perhaps I can tape her singing during one of her workshops or rehearsals at the temple, 4901 N Pennsylvania, to share her gifts and talents with the community-at-large via The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com.
It would be nice to hear her sweet melodies now being enjoyed by the Temple B’nai congregation.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
